Madame Zingara

- Jul 22, 2011 -

“This is not a post office” – Madame Zingara Shop on Kloof Street, Cape Town

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Yesterday I went to the incredible (as usually mind-blowing) opening of the new Madame Zingara store on 114 Kloof Street in Cape Town. What you can get there? Everything (masks, toys, candy…). Check it out.

pix by Madame Zingara PR&Marketing & press release…

August 2011 – Madame Zingara always does everything with a dash of panache, but she’s excelled herself with a new venture on Kloof Street, Cape Town. The company’s first retail store, This is not a post office, is the ultimate one-stop party shop. This unique store is best described as stepping through Alice’s looking glass into a wild and very wacky Aladdin’s Cave filled with everything from rubber chickens to sunglasses, wigs, costumes, jewelry and even fluffy handcuffs.

Madame Zingara has given her own twist to a dynamic experiential retail space which includes live art installations. “Creativity is at the heart of everything we do at Madame Zingara” says founder and managing director Richard Griffin “We wanted to create a space where people can have fun, where the unimaginable becomes a reality.”

From the moment you enter through the door you experience sensory overload. As Griffin points out, you will find your ordinary party shop in any suburb, but hardly one that has mini disco balls and rubber ducks hanging on the roof or giant lollipops and blow up sheep scattered around the room.

This not a post office also has a creative team that is ready to take a party or corporate event from ho-hum to sublime. “Our team will assist with everything needed for a celebration, from décor and props to exciting goodie bags and performers or characters that are guaranteed to inject fire into any gathering – no matter how big or small,” adds Griffin.

This is not a post office is open every Monday – Saturday from 9am to 6pm but don’t expect Postman Pat to greet you at the door.

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(Pix were taken at the opening with my iphone, terrible but still… to get a little bit of a feel ;)

- Cape Town -
- Jan 14, 2011 -

THE Bombay Bicycle Club

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A good choice when you’re looking for an extravagant restaurant atmosphere

It’s an attraction. It’s a little circus. It’s not only for gypsies. It’s a Cape Town institution. It’s the Bombay Bicycle Club.

This is where I take friends when they come to Cape Town for the first time. Something a little crazy usually works and it’s always a night to remember. ‘Remember when we wore the hats? Remember when I fell off the swing?’ Yes, I do!

I don’t come here for the extraordinary good food, it’s all right, yeah, but I come here for the vibe, for the experience. Being at the Bombay Bicycle Club is a good reminder to not take life too serious and that life’s a party. The Bombay Bicycle Club is a party. People eat lot’s and drink even more. The waiters are in a party mood, dressed up and sometimes have a bite of your meal. It’s a place of friends for friends, a proud love-and-magic-product of Madame Zingara. The decor is a dreamworld. It’s crazy with everything you can find and imagine: a few antics, a bit of Chinese everything, glitter, toys, too many frames, instruments – can you imagine?

For starters I usually go for the deep fried haloumi cheese (yummy!), for mains for the famous chocolate chilli steak I know from the Theatre of Dreams. The steak is always a highlight and always I feel like having a little more. There are always specials as well as a menu including vegetarian-meals, pastas, risotto, steaks and more for reasonable prices.

Next to the food, a good selection of drinks can and will be served. This is a place where you should get a littel tipsy. Be a tipsy gypsy since “everything is possible” as they say. “You are encouraged to let your hair down and expected to stay up way past your bed time.”

“In all truth the Bombay Bicycle Club was created to teach us all ways towards peace.”
Check it out, peace out.

by Antonia Heil

Bombay Bicycle Club | 158 Kloof Street | Gardens | Cape Town | Tel. 021 423 6805
Opening hours 6pm until very late

- Cape Town, food, Food Cape Town -
- Dec 21, 2010 -

Bombay Bicycle Club…

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Sooo lucky… yesterday, we finally got a table at the Bombay Bicycle Club in Cape Town. I had the chocolate chilli steak and lot’s of fun… it’s definitely worth a magic visit! Book here.

pic by lookandsee

- Cape Town, food, Food Cape Town -
- Dec 1, 2010 -

Café Mozart

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Cape Town is pumping, summer is here and I write like a maddo and loving it! This is also a new favourite, honestly worth to check out! Enjoy my little piece…
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Café Mozart Now Under Madama Zingara’s Wings

A lovely refurbished day-time restaurant next to the antique market in Church Street

‘She’ is everywhere in Cape Town. She, meaning the mysterious Madama Zingara. She is taking over our foodie city not as a chain restauarant but as a series of individual and cosy little spots where people can feel the love and, of course, magic. Her new baby Cafe Mozart re-opened in September 2010 and after some love-renovations and dreamful decorations in the antique corner of Church Street tourists and locals are sure to return to this magical space.


Café Mozart has been around for more than 35 years with different owners and in the old days one could listen to live classical music. The vibe of it’s dreamy interior and staff is love, nostalgia, different times and cultures all coming together. Beautiful antique cups hang from the ceiling and the Maneki Neko Cat with the moving arm peers down from the shelf. God Ganesh… you are free to think what you want with Madame Zingara’s prescence all around you.

An essence of love and magic

The Bombay Bicycle Club, the Sidewalk Café, Café Mozart and new addition Café Paradiso are all from one magic family of which Peta is a part of. Peta moved from the Sidewalk Café to manage Café Mozart and says “We aim to provide a sense of welcome, a home away from home and an essence of love and magic. We revamped what was and want to take Mozart back to what it was. We kept a lot of the old staff and we want people to appreciate the space.”

Food is one of the best reasons to visit with breakfast served till 12 including yummy omelettes, French Toast with halloumi, Pancake Steak, Muesli and many more options ranging between R20 and R48. Gourmet Sandwiches are filled with meat and vegetarian delights like the Open Bobotie Sandwich on whole wheat molasses bread or Roast Vegetables, mozarella and pesto (R30 – R45). Expect warm toasty options like sausage, egg and tomato served with salad (R26 – R31). 

Mozart Royale is highly recommended

I’m at Café Mozart for lunch and highly recommend the Mozart Royale Burger. “The chef is an artist” says our lovely waitress and it certainly looks like a piece of art served on a long white rectangular plate, the burger on one side, the artistic mix of sauces on the other with some super crispy fries to boot. I will certainly return for the Mozart Royale which is a feast for the eyes and super yummy.

Other lunch options include a buffet that changes daily, which I also have a nibble on, and lovely salads with seeds and different tastes (a regular plate costs R40). A board is inscribed with a choice of soups, salads, a mussel pot, fish and chips, Bobotie, pies, quiche, Schnitzel and aged sirloin at affordable prices. Plus, if there’s still space in your stomach, have a slice of lemon meringue pie, scones, brownies or another yummy desert.

This place is delicious, inside and outside, for the eyes and for the soul. Enjoy.

By Antonia Heil

PS: You can chill out and work here with free Wifi! Bargain! Plus you can enjoy the yummy delicacies as take aways. There is also a private dining room upstairs with a 12-seater table and a comfortable seating area which is ideal for meetings or functions.

Café Mozart
37 Church street | City Centre | Cape Town | +27 (0) 21 424 3774

Opening hours: Monday-Friday: 7am – 4.30pm, Saturday: 8am – 3.30pm, closed on Sundays

 

- Cape Town, cool places to go, food, Food Cape Town -
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